Electronics lead to “junk sleep” in teenagers

The large majority of teenagers have phones, TVs, stereos, or gaming systems …

The ubiquitous presence of electronics and gadgets in the home is affecting kids' ability to get a good night's sleep, according to a new survey by The Sleep Council. The UK-based sleep advice organization took an online poll of 1,000 teenagers between 12 and 16 years old and found that many do not get the recommended amount of sleep on an average night, in part due to TVs, music, or video game consoles.

23 percent of those surveyed said that they regularly fell asleep while watching TV, listening to music, or with "other machinery" still running. The Council says that this is not surprising given that 98.5 percent of the teenagers have phones, music systems, or TVs in their bedrooms (almost two-thirds had all three).

Even at the younger end of the group, electronics in the bedroom are prevalent—58 percent of 12- to 14-year-old boys reported having a phone, music player, TV, or game console in the bedroom.

And although many adults claim that they fall asleep more easily with the TV on, it doesn't always work the same way for kids. One in five of all the teenage boys surveyed admitted that leaving the TV or computer on was affecting the quality of their sleep.

The teens aren't exactly bouncing back from the poor quality sleep, either. 40 percent of the group reported feeling tired in general each day, with 15- and 16-year-old girls doing even worse. But despite this realization, only 11 percent of teenagers surveyed felt that quality of sleep was important. "I'm staggered that so few teenagers make the link between getting enough good quality sleep and how they feel during the day," the Edinburgh Sleep Centre's Dr. Chris Idzikowski said in a statement. "Teenagers need to wake up to the fact that to feel well, perform well and look well, they need to do something about their sleep."